


Camp and Other Acceptable Things

by Cmacmac



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Most main characters will be camp councilors, Multi, Past Relationships, Tags to be added, relationship tags will be added as they become relavant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-01 03:29:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15765687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cmacmac/pseuds/Cmacmac
Summary: Caleb and Nott jump at the opportunity to leave their complicated and drama filled lives to go spend a quiet summer at the Wildemount State Park where they will work as camp counselors at Camp Pine Willow. Unfortunately things don't always go as smoothly as planned. New friends and new experiences open old wounds and give way to a camp already filled with more than enough drama to go around. They each find themselves thrown into a world of long days of summer heat and midnight lake escapades and lies and secrets and pasts that always seem to bubble up to the surface. It's sink or swim at Camp Pine Willow.





	1. Caleb and Messages and Nerves

Caleb's phone went off for a second time in the last ten minutes, but he just gripped the steering wheel at ten and two until his knuckles went white and stared straight ahead at the road as it crested another hill. He knew that Nott had heard the tell tale sign of the message, but she was preoccupied with her own problems. She had a green apple and cheery swirled slushie that was melting untouched in the cup holder. She was nervous, and Caleb knew that she wouldn't eat whenever she was worried about something. Even in normal circumstances she ate slowly, carefully, the habits of someone used to getting little and needing to make it last. Caleb understood that feeling well enough, even if it had been quite some time that either of them had had to go hungry. Echoes of their pasts manifested in different ways.

“About ten more minutes,” Nott told him, holding up her phone, “We just need to stay on County Road W and it'll be on our left. There will probably be signs, it is a state park after all.” Nott's headphones were pooled in her lap, still connected to her phone and playing loudly enough that Caleb could just almost pick out the lyrics.

“Wildemount State Park,” Caleb answered, half to Nott and half to himself to try out the name of his home for the next three months, careful to keep his accent neutral. It still hardly felt real, even if he had talked to the camp director on the phone for nearly an hour interviewing for the position of camp counselor.

“Yes, that's the name,” Nott agreed, fiddling with her hoodie sleeve. Caleb had the ac up to accommodate, but he knew that she would need to take the sweatshirt off when they stepped out into the June heat. He was pretty sure that she knew as well, but she liked the layers. 

When the Wildemount sign came into view they both audibly took a breath and Caleb let out a soft laugh, Having someone to share your nervousness with was a comfort, if only a small one.

“Well, there's no turning back now,” Caleb muttered, turning into the entrance of the park.

“The no turn back place was back at Hupperdook! Where we got my slushie,”Nott insisted.

“I know how to make a u-turn,” Caleb said with a shrug and Nott replied with a squawk of disapproval that loosened the stress that had settled into Caleb's hands and he laughed louder this time.

The Camp Pine Willow grounds sat about three miles into the park. The parking lot sat at the southern base of the clearing and the clearing itself was met with the forest on three sides and a lake on the western side. Supposedly there were other lakes scattered around the park and a decent sized river that cut the park in half.

A few larger buildings sat in the southern half of the grassy clearing, all made of wood and painted a deep green that had seen its fair share of summers. Smaller cabins were dotted along the outside of the clearing and Caleb could only guess they were where the bunks were. He had never been to a summer camp as a child, but he had spent the last month reading any information that he could on them. That had to be enough, right?

“So, do we just go down and pick a building?”Nott asked. She was running her hands through her thick, dark hair, and pushing it behind her ears. First impressions were important. Caleb sighed, looking in the mirror. The bags under his eyes were nearly purple and he should have shaved this morning, but there wasn't anything that he could do about either of those thing.

“The email only said that We needed to be here on Thursday at ten for the training before the kids get here on Monday,” Caleb said. He stretched and got out of the car before his nerves could get the better of him. Nott quickly followed and tied her hoodie around her waist. Her shirt was a little too large for her small stature featuring some charity run that she had never been on. The sleeves ended barely above her elbows and her wrists were covered with her collection of bracelets. Sher checked her face once more in the side mirror and turned to give Caleb a nervous smile.

“Let's not bring our suitcases, I don't want to lug it around and put them in the wrong spots,” Nott offered.

Calen shook his head a little too quickly, “I want my backpack.”

“Sure,”Nott said, “I'll take mine too then.”

Caleb had some important things in his backpack. His folder where he was keeping important documentation and some books he was currently reading or rereading and the letter to his parents he hadn't ever sent and a picture of Trent that Nott didn't know he had printed out before deleting the pictures off his phone. He knew it was silly, but the idea of someone going through his belongings put him on edge, even if the person who would do it wasn't anywhere near them. It was better to be safe.

Nott's bag was smaller, and clearly less filled but she slung it over her shoulder anyway. She held the empty cup of her slushie in her hand and a pile of green and red slush sat in a melting pile next to the passenger door. Caleb sighed.

“We are going to attract bees,”He said with more defeat than concern in his voice.

“It's the woods. This is the bees home. I'm just bringing them a housewarming gift!” Nott said. She pushed her way ahead and started to make her way towards the large building. Caleb shook his head and followed. There were three larger buildings in total on the south side of the grounds with another building closer to the lake. The largest had a second story that jutted up almost in the shape of a barn and the other two were single story with one being wider and longer than the other.

Nott headed for the two storied building, and Caleb followed, pulling out his phone to check the time and was met with another chime and tell tale vibration of a message. Nott didn't turn around and Caleb was thankful for that.

“Is he still messaging you this frequently?”She asked softly, still without turning.

“He... knows that today was the first day of the job. I didn't tell him, but it would not have been hard to figure out,” Caleb said shoving his phone back into his pocket without even checking the time.

“You could still block him,”Nott offered.

Caleb shook his head, “It's ok this way. I can handle it. IF I block him he will just make a new Facebook or use someone else's and I wouldn't be able to just ignore him.”

“Ok,”Nott shrugged. Caleb could tell she wanted to say more, but he was grateful she didn't. He didn't like to talk about Trent. It hadn't been barely any time at all. A month and a half, or 47 days if anyone was counting. Still too soon, still enough time that Caleb could ask to avoid the subject. 

“I think I hear people inside,” Nott told him, pointing towards the screen door into the main entrance of the building. The green paint up close was chipping away, revealing deep colored wood. 

“Well it's now or never then,” Caleb gestured towards the door. Nott nodded and headed inside, but Caleb hung back. He pulled out his phone and looked at the notification for the message that Trent had just sent him. 

[Trent: Ok?]

Caleb cringed. He knew he couldn't look at the other messages without Trent being able to see that he had read them. He knew it was a trap. The “ok?” hid the other messages. But, Caleb worried that the other two messages could be an apology, or they could have been threats to share some of Caleb's worst secrets. There was no way to know without giving into Trent's games.

When Nott had suggested they both go work at Camp Pine Willow nearly two hours from Soltryce University Caleb had known that she thought it a good opportunity to get away from the city and more importantly Trent, who hadn't backed off since the break up and had nearly caused Caleb to fail his finals. Caleb agreed that the separation would probably be beneficial, but he had finally accepted because he knew that none of the people here would know his history and know the terrible things he has done. A chance to spend three months being a different person, a better person. He didn't want to give up that chance, so he had said yes.

So now here he was, desperate for a fresh start and terrified that if he let Nott know how much he wanted this to go well that she would laugh at him and tell him how stupid he was being. She knew that he was a fuck-up but she didn't know all of it, she didn't know that he was beyond real redemption, and perhaps he could keep that to himself for at least the summer.

“Alright,” Caleb breathed to himself and he walked through the doorway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all. This is my very first fanfic in a long while and first one I've been willing to share in years! My Tumblr is Cmacmac.tumblr.com if anyone wants to chat or check out my artwork and art commission info. I'm open to critique especially if it involved parts of the story that don't seem clear or are written in a way that is incoherent. 
> 
> Caleb's and Nott's perspective will switch every chapter. I think Nott doesn't get enough fic love. Every main character is over 18 although I have no plans for smut. I've also been a camp counselor so I hope I can make the work seem realistic! Anyway I've got to go, I'm late to go DM a D&D game. My goal is to update once a week.


	2. Nott and Name tags and Impressions

Nott had been to summer camp once before. It had been the summer after she had broken her arm. She had barely gotten the cast off when her mother had sent her off to Camp Kanacook for three weeks. It had been the best summer that Nott could remember. 21 days of campfires and songs and stories and crafts and people who wanted to be there. She had kept the camp shirt for years until she gave it to her cousin when he had run out of clothes that were nice enough for school and had lost track of it.

That camp had been smaller. The park it was in was small, just outside of Felderwin, next to the tiny airport that barely anyone used. It had only a single building which made finding the place to check in loads easier.

Camp Pine Willow might as well be a labyrinth. None of the building had signs on them as far as Nott could tell. It was as if the universe was determined to make Nott lost and late for everything.

The largest building was the most promising and to seal the deal it had a trash can outside of it so Nott could stop carrying around the empty gas station cup. The building had a single screen door on its front side propped open with a small rock. The sounds of conversations wafted outside.

“I think I hear people inside,” Nott said, and she could tell the Caleb had heard her, but she could see in his eyes that his mind was elsewhere, probably still with his phone and that terrible messaging app.

“Well it's now or never then,” Caleb said anyway and Nott slipped inside, not really expecting Caleb to follow right behind her. She wanted to convince Caleb to delete the app or block Trent, but she knew he would only be upset that she kept asking him. She was still surprised that he had agreed to spend the summer working far from the city at a summer camp of all places.

The inside of the building was wonderfully cooler. The front room seemed to be some sort of educational room with large nature displays and a huge mural along one wall. Posters identifying plants and and animal tracks continued down the hall. The voices were coming from further in.

Nott brushed at her hair again, trying to tame stray hairs into something resembling neatness. She wished she had used one of her headbands. She was trying to not hide behind her hair any more. It was one of he many habits she was trying to break.

“You look fine,” Caleb mumbled behind her. 

Nott sighed, “I just don't want to look dumb.”

“Impossible,” Caleb shook his head, “So should we go?”

Nott nodded and continued deeper into the building. The voices were coming from a smaller room off to a side. A few older looking couches and a table with chairs filled most of what reminded Nott of a break room. A girl with brown curling hair and an unusual shock of blue at her roots looked up from the table beaming.

“We are making name tags!” She announced happily. She had on a skirt of patchwork color and tulle that looked like too many layers for the heat and Camp Pine Willow t-shirt with sharpie writing covering the back, faded with numerous washes. The brightness of her attire was only more contrasted by the dull beat up hiking boots she wore to finish the outfit.

Not walked over, too distracted to be nervous. Another person sat at the table, another girl with much more reasonable clothing. A loose fitting tank top and sports bra combo that seemed much more appropriate for the season. Her dark hair was pulled into a top not. She looked up, but didn't offer the smile. Nott gave her a small smile anyway and the girl seemed to remember the rules of social interaction and returned with a smile that looked forced enough to be painful.

“What are the name tags for?” Nott asked. The table was covered in scraps of paper in varying rectangle sizes. A box of thick markers were spread out, mixing with sharpies and a few gel pens.

“So we can learn our names. Pumat has us do it every year,”The brightly colored girl announced and then after a beat added, “We also wear them for the campers when the arrive.”  
Nott nodded and picked up a pale green piece of card stock that had been cut to the size of a note card. Caleb had slipped into the room at some point and was sinking into one of the couches that were shoved in the corner. He hated social interaction as much as Nott did, but while it turned on a sort of auto pilot for her, he just shut down. Nott knew it would pass eventually.

Nott peeked a glance at the cards in front of the girls. The bright one had the name Jester and the other Beau. Beau noticed Nott's gaze and held up the undecorated name tag. 

“The name's Beau,” She said.

“Oh, um, I'm Nott,” Nott said quickly. She really hadn't done anything wrong, but she felt guilty for getting caught.

Beau crinkled her nose, “Nott? What kind of name is that?”

“Beau!”Jester scolded, “That's not how you're supposed to ask!”

“It's ok, It's my last name, Nottingham, but I go by Nott. What kind of name is Beau?” Nott said, writing her name onto the card in big block letters.

Beau laughed and smirked which looked much more natural on her face than the smile from before, “touché. Beau is short for Beauregard,”she said, but didn't elaborate further.

“And, I'm Jester. It's not short for anything. I don't have a nickname,”Jester beamed, holding up her name tag. Her name was written in a flowy sort of script and she had drawn a border of candies around it.

Nott held up her own name tag. She had drawn a tree on one side and added grass to the bottom. It was not nearly as colorful as Jester's but it seemed like not much was as colorful as Jester.

Within the hour four more people arrived and introduced themselves. A boy named Fjord had come in showing a girl who insisted to be called Keg the way to the room. A very tall girl named Yasha who seemed even quieter than Caleb had followed and then and another boy named Clay who set off alarms in Nott. 

Clay was a smoker. She could smell the faint scent of pot from his clothes. They were washed, but it wasn't easy to get rid of the smell when you smoked in the house. His eyes seemed clear enough, but he was extremely mellow. It wasn't that Nott was against smoking, but she had met enough people who did stupid and cruel things while high that she was wary.

“Here Caleb I made you a name tag,”Jester announced, presenting a paper towards him. Nott winced when she saw Caleb stiffen. He really was terrible at hiding his emotions. He stood out like a terrible awkward orange beacon.

“Ah, thank you,”Caleb said taking the card. It was bright and his name was written in a rainbow gradient that was fairly impressive from an artistic standpoint.

“I put books all around it because Nott says you like books!”Jester cocked her head and the motion reminded Nott so much of a puppy that she had to look away.

“Why is it rainbow?”Fjord asked, looking up from his phone. His voice had a twang that reminded Nott of old west movies.

“Why not?”Jester asked, her hands finding their way to her hips.

“Whoa,” Fjord laughed putting his hands up, “I didn't mean anything by it, just a question.”

Before Jester could respond a man walked through the door. His skin was a deep ruddy tan from what Nott could make out from under his thick beard. He looked as if he had spent his life outdoors and the thick layer of dried mud on his boots spoke to that fact. He was built like a tree, tall with thick arms. All of these tall people were making Nott feel small. She pocketed a gel pen and moved over to stand beside Caleb.

“Well, hello there. It's been some time since I saw some of you, and I see a few new faces as well, how wonderful,”The man said, clapping his hands together. Nott was nearly certain that this was their boss, the camp director, Pumat Sol.

He was quick to get into what appeared to be a prepared speech about Camp Pine Willow, it's history and about the park itself. The speech quickly turned into a lesson and they were given camp counselor packets with more information and spend a good part of the morning getting into the legalities that came with working with kids. 

At around noon they had a thirty minute break and Beau and Keg had gone to the kitchens to bring back sandwich supplies. Nott quickly pulled out her phone and pulled up the messenger app, glancing over at Caleb.

[Nott: why is everyone working here so attractive?! i don't get it!]

[Caleb: Yes, I know.]

[Nott: something in the water?? im going to drink the water]

[Caleb: I don't think that is how it works.]

[Nott: too late im drinking the water]

[Caleb: As long as it's not the lake water.]

[Nott: i am my own person and i can make my own decisions!!]

[Caleb: I would usually support that statement, but in this context I am only going to repeat my original request.]

[Caleb: Please do not drink lake water.]

Nott laughed to herself and looked around the room. Beau and Keg had returned and were joking about something, teasing each other. Beau kept glancing over at Yasha, but the tall girl seemed to be pointedly ignoring her and writing in a notebook. She was pretty and she looked very strong. Dark hair with white tips that was surprisingly soft looking and her waves looked manageable and nice, much unlike the unkempt mess that Nott had. She smoothed at her hair again and looked over at Caleb. He seemed puzzled or even upset and was contemplating something. Nott nudged him and gave him a questioning smile. Pushing too hard never seemed to work with Caleb. It had been patience that had made them become friends in the quiet afternoons they spent in the Soltryce library.

Caleb pulled out his phone again and Nott opened the app just as he hit send.

[Caleb: Do you think I look gay?]

[Nott: what?]

[Caleb: Do you think I look gay? The name tag Jester gave me was rainbow.] 

[Nott: i think she just likes rainbows]

[Nott: did you see her hair? it was blue at the tips! that is weird!]

[Nott: (a cool weird)]

[Caleb: Fjord seems to think it meant something more.]

[Nott: i thought you were out]

Nott bit her lip. She never knew what she was supposed to say when sexuality came up. It always made her feel uncomfortable and weird. It never had to do with Caleb or who he liked. It was something messed up with Nott, something that made her feel weird and stupid whenever something serious came up, like she never got some sensitivity class that everyone else got, maybe she took a band class instead when they offered it. She reached into her pocket with her spare hand and fiddled with the gel pen.

[Caleb: I am out. I just don't like the idea that people might be able to tell within just meeting me. There are times when it is safer to not be so open.]

[Nott: of course im stupid sorry]

[Nott: im really sure that jester just likes rainbows]

[Caleb: Okay. And you are not stupid, Nott.]

“I hope no one forgot about me!” a loud voice was met with excited shouts, and Nott looked up with a start

Jester jumped up and ran to the door,“Molly!”

A boy laughed and pulled her into a hug. A boy with lavender hair and golden jewelry stood in the doorway. He was recognized by a good number of the other counselors. Beau flipped him off and he returned the gesture with a grin. His hoodie was zipped open and hanging loosely off his shoulders. It was a bright red with patches and embroidery running down the seems. Nott glanced around the room once more. This summer sure wouldn't be boring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a bit late, but I'll try to do better next time! 
> 
> As usual you can follow me or come talk to me on my tumblr, cmacmac.tumblr.com
> 
> Thanks!!! :)


	3. Caleb and Campfires and Conflicts

Caleb preferred what was familiar, and manuals were familiar. He enjoyed the way that they were clear and concise. There was not some secret way to decipher them or understand their contents. People were not so simple. Caleb had grown used to Trent's help. Trent would tell him who to talk with and who to avoid. He would introduce Caleb to his friends and let Caleb know when he was being stupid and messing up. In fact, Nott was the very first friend that Caleb had made himself without Trent's influence in the last two years.

So, Caleb tried to focus on the manual in front of him instead of the overcrowded couch and the leg pressing against his that was attached to a guy he had barely just met.

Everyone seemed to know Mollymauk and if they didn't they warmed to him immediately. He was loud and fun and happy. He was a mirror opposite to Caleb. Caleb could barely keep the panic from rising up his throat like bile when he thought about being that outgoing. Caleb wasn't warm or friendly and he couldn't tell when he was messing up or not and Nott would try to help, but it wasn't the same.

Mollymauk Tealeaf was exactly the sort of person that Trent would tell Caleb to stay away from, and that fact made some part of Caleb want to get to know Molly, to see what made him so dangerous. So, when they were told which cabins they would be staying at, Caleb was forced to acknowledge the excitement that came when his name was paired with Molly's.

“He doesn't want you new kids to be by yourself,” Molly whispered next to him.

“I'm sorry?”Caleb turned to look at Molly and Molly smiled back.

“You, and Clay and Nott and Keg that's her name right? Great name honestly, I don't know if I told her that yet. Pumat won't make any of you have a cabin to yourself yet,” Molly explained. Caleb found himself distracted from being so close to someone.

Growing up, Caleb had never seen someone with unnatural hair before except for on tv, and even then, it was mostly on cartoons or Sesame Street. Going to college had changed that, naturally. Suddenly, he was in a big city with tens of thousands of people. But, even then, Trent hadn't found much favor in body modifications. Trent would have hated purple hair.

Lavender hair suited Mollymauk though. It was a shade lighter than his skin, which was a deep golden brown and covered in tattoos of every color imaginable. With his jacket draped over the arm of the couch, Caleb could follow the snake that curled down his arm and the flowers at his elbow. Caleb tried to imagine how he would look with a tattoo but he couldn't even picture it.

“Caleb?”

Caleb's head shot up and his cheek's darkened, “Yes? Sorry.”

Molly looked him over, “You ok? It's a lot to take in.”

“I'm fine,”Caleb shook his head, “What were the pairs for the first two weeks again?”Caleb glanced around the room. Pumat was talking with Fjord and Jester at the table and looking through some papers on his clipboard. The others were talking among themselves now. Molly began to point out the groups.

“For the girls we have Beau and Keg, Yasha and Nott, and Jester by herself. And, for the guys there's us, Fjord by himself, and then Clay and Shakäste who won't be here until Sunday,” Molly said.

“The cabins have ten to twelve campers or so right? That's a lot of campers for a single person,” Caleb mussed.

“Well, they aren't always alone, plus there will be assistant counselors, or counselors in training, and Fjord and Jester will definitely get assigned one or two. I hope we get one, they are great, excluding Eric,” Molly said. His phone made a noise and he pulled it out.

“Eric?”Caleb asked.

Molly shook his head, looking down at his phone, “Don't worry, there's no way Pumat will bring him back.”

The rest of the afternoon was spent going through the process of a basic week and medical procedures. By the time they ended the day and went to dinner, Caleb felt like he knew more about epipens than he ever wanted to know. He was tired, but he felt good, hopeful even. This job was going to be good for him, he could feel it.

“They did it on purpose,” Nott told him when they sat down in the large dining room at a table to themselves.

“Did what?”Caleb asked. He glanced at the others. Molly had told a joke at what appeared to be Beau's expense based on the reactions at the other table. Yasha was reading at a table by herself, her plate pushed aside, untouched.

“They put me, the shortest person, with the tallest person here!” Nott exclaimed. 

“I think Clay may be taller, technically,” Caleb said gently.

“semantics,”Nott waved her hand, “The point is that they did this on purpose to make me look silly,”Nott said. She pushed her hair back with a huff.

“Did you tell Pumat how tall you were durring your interview?” Pumat was in the kitchen currently washing dishes from dinner. Caleb could see him through the large window that separated the kitchen from the dining room.

“No,” Nott muttered, “Why do you have to ruin all of my conspiracy theories with logic?”

Caleb shrugged, “Get better theories.”

Before Nott could retort, Molly and Jester interrupted them.

“Nott, Caleb, we are going to light the campfire. Molly brought stuff for smores!”Jester told them. She bounced on the balls of her feet, as if staying still was painful for her. 

Caleb and Nott cleaned their things and followed the group outside. Pumat waved to them as he walked across the grounds carrying some totes. Caleb's brow furrowed as he looked back towards the building he had just left, but he let his confusion go.

The others led them towards an area further north. A large fire pit had already been stacked with wood. Logs turned on their sides created semi circles around the pit. They were partially embedded into the earth from years of use. The sun was just beginning to set and Nott excitedly pointed out the bats that were swooping overhead. 

“Beau be careful,” Fjord called over to the brunette as she carried an armful of logs. Jester laughed beside her, carrying twice as much, divided under either arm.

“I'm always careful,” Beau said back.

“You are never careful,” Molly said. He had put his deep red hoodie back on. He was close enough that Caleb could pick out the bright white and blue embroidery along the back and sleeves. A large golden sun covered a good portion of the back and green triangles traveled down parallel to the zipper. Caleb had never seen a jacket like it and he had to stop himself from reaching out and running his finger tips along the embroidery. Caleb curled his hands into fists and looked away.

“Fuck you, Molly!”Beau dumped the wood in a pile beside the pit just in time to flip Molly off, but no one took the gesture seriously, and even Caleb could tell there was no malice behind Beauregard's glare.

“Hey, I thought there's no swearing at camp,” Keg said. Keg was one of the four new counselors. Unlike Caleb, she had managed to fit right in immediately. If she felt awkward or unsure, she wasn't letting it show. Her hair was short and rough but styled and her clothes made her look like she already fit in with the camp style, hiking boots and an old graphic tee with the sleeves rolled up. 

“There's no campers yet,”Jester explained dropping her load of wood on top of Beau's, “We can do whatever we want!”

“Within reason!”Fjord sighed, shaking his head.

Caleb found a log close enough to the pit to not be excluded, but not too close. He wished he had a book and the adequate light in which to read it. A book was the perfect tool. It let people know what you were doing and most people wouldn't interrupt you. It didn't have the connotation of wasting time that being on your phone sometimes did and there was something grounding about holding something in your hands and being able to get lost in it. It was a tether that let you relax. Caleb had yet to find anything that could compare.

Once the fire started, everyone began to disperse somewhat. Beau and Keg were preparing the marshmallows and graham crackers on a log. Molly was showing a deck of cards to Fjord and Clay. Yasha had found a seat by herself close to Molly and was dividing her time between watching the fire and watching Beau and Keg. Jester and Nott came and sat near Caleb.

Jester smiled at him and cocked her head, “Why are you so far away from everyone? Don't be a Debbie downer.”

Caleb shrugged but didn't look at her, “I'm not a fan of fire.”

“Why?”She asked.

“I think this might actually be the best spot to sit,” Nott interrupted, “see, we are close enough to see it fine, but not so close to be super hot. Plus people won't eavesdrop on us here.”

Jester's eyes lit up, “Oh? Are we going to talk about secrets, Nott? I love secrets.”

“Sure,” Nott nodded, “How about the secret of your hair?”

“That's not a secret,”Jester laughed.

“It is to me because I don't know it,” Nott said.

“Well, It was all blue last year because blue is the best, but when I went back home, I wanted to get a job and most people in Nicodranas are super uptight and wont hire people unless they have regular hair colors, so I dyed it back to normal. But, now it's summer again so I was going to dye it blue again, but my hair had grown back healthy and the bleach had made it so dry, so I decided to only bleach and dye part of it,” Jester explained.

“But why the roots?”Nott pressed.

Jester laughed, touching her hair, “I thought it would be funny! I'm going to tell the campers that blue is my natural hair color and I dyed it brown and now it's growing back!”

Caleb let his mind drift away from the conversation beside him. Even though they had come to sit by him, he felt like he would be intruding if he said anything. Jester's energy was infectious and Nott seemed to be affected by it. She was leaning in towards Jester talking about something with a tentative enthusiasm that made her eyes light up. Caleb had not hung out with Nott with other people much. Both of them had had few friends excluding each other and all of Caleb's friends had stopped talking to him when he and Trent had ended, except the times that Trent had sent them to talk Caleb out of leaving. The way a single day was breaking down the mask Nott put up was making Caleb happy and sad at the same time, but it much easier to ignore the feelings entirely.

Molly was roasting a couple marshmallows on a long thin stick. When he noticed Caleb's gaze he waved, but didn't call out and Caleb gave a small wave in return. Clay and Fjord were watching what seemed to be vines on a phone and Keg was still with the smores. Beau had moved to beside Yasha and they were talking, except they weren't. 

The two girls were arguing quietly, and both looked upset. When Yasha stopped responding to whatever Beau was saying, Beau's voice rose, drawing some of the other's notice. Beau jumped up angrily.

“Fine, fuck you. What's even the point of talking to you if you're going to act like this?!” Beau said, her voice sharp and thick with anger. 

The sudden silence made Beau look around to see everyone looking at the pair. She swore under her breath and stormed off towards the eastern cabins. Yasha left soon after heading south, but Caleb wasn't sure to where, and Molly followed his friend. The silence continued until Jester loudly demanded a stick to teach Nott how to roast smores and dissipated at least some of the tension in the air.

Caleb had settled into his log and was absently flipping through his pdf collection on his phone when Fjord came up to him.

“Is this seat taken?” Fjord asked gesturing to the other half of the log.

“Who would it be taken by?” Caleb asked before he could stop himself and winced, but Fjord just chuckled and sat down. Fjord was broad shouldered and tall. He looked more like an actor hired to play a camp counselor in a movie than anything else. Brown skin and warm eyes and high cheekbones and a strong jaw. It was hard to look at Fjord and not admit that he was very attractive. Maybe Nott was on to something with her lake water theory. 

“So, you and Molly have the 11 to 12s this week?” Fjord asked after a few surprisingly relaxed minutes of silence.

“Yes, The middle group, right?” Caleb said.

“Yep,” Fjord nodded, “That's a good group. The younger ones can be overwhelming, especially the boys. They love to feed off each other's energy if you aren't careful, but Molly is a good counselor and he is good with kids, you'll learn a lot from him.”

“That's good. We will make this work,” Caleb said softly, looking up at the now star scatter sky.

“Yeah, I think we will,” Fjord said, and something made Caleb's brow furrow. Years of practice had given Caleb the tools in which to pick up the signs, however small. The deepness in his voice, the way the drawl was a little too long and the enunciation just barely not relaxed. Caleb was certain of it now, but he had no idea what to do with the information.

Fjord was faking his accent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is my longest chapter yet! Not, by much, but still. I think I'm getting into the rhythm of how I want the characters to feel. I don't want to overwhelm people with all the characters too fast so it might take a while before everyone gets some love, but I promise it'll happen, but this is Caleb and Nott's story first and foremost.
> 
> As usual you can follow me on tumblr at Cmacmac.tumblr.com. :) see you next chapter.


	4. Nott and Braids and Embroidery

The cabins reminded Nott of her tiny studio apartment. The cabins were small and cramped and consisted of one room and a bathroom in the back, but they were made nearly entirely of wood and smelled wonderful. Nott wasn't certain that she would say the same after it was full to the brim with campers, but right now she loved it.

The main room of each cabin was lined with eight sets of bunk beds, four on each side. On the back wall, between the last two bunks was a door that led to the bathroom. The bathroom floor was concrete, painted white, and one side consisted of two stalls: a toilet and a shower. The other side was two sinks set into a counter that ran along the wall. A small mirror hung between them and Nott could already tell that it would most likely end up being a point of conflict. 

When she had first brought her things over, with the help of Caleb, Yasha had already chosen a bunk in the back corner and was lying down, facing the wall. Nott didn't know what to say to her, so she had only set her things in the corner diagonal to Yasha and left to help Caleb carry his luggage.   
Now, Nott wished she had said something, anything. Even an 'I'm sorry you're sad.' might've been better than the awkward silence that filled up the tiny cabin. Nott was used to minding her own business. Asking questions brought trouble and offering sympathy helped no one, but that wasn't how she wanted to live anymore. 

The next three days were spent going page by page in the employee manual and going over the basics of camp life. They chose their days and nights off for the next two weeks and took a tour of the campgrounds. They went a little too close to the lake for Nott's comfort, but she was fairly sure that she hid her nervousness well enough. 

In addition to having their own cabin of campers, every week the counselors were to lead a different activity during the morning rotation. Some were constant like Nature Science and Games, but the other activities would rotate like Arts and crafts and Hiking group and any idea that they could pitch to Pumat. The campers would choose their top four morning activities and get assigned 2 along with whichever nature science they managed to test into. Nott would have one of the two arts and crafts groups for all three rotations sharing the arts and crafts room with Jester, and Caleb was in charge of the intermediate Nature Science group for his three rotations.

When they had been hired, Pumat had explained that they were to be uphill staff which meant they would be more in charge of leading the non sports related activities in the mornings. They wouldn't ever have to lead canoeing or sports if they didn't want to. 

The information overload was overwhelming, but Nott's mind kept drifting back to one thing: Yasha had yet to say a word to her. The tall girl was quiet sure, but she had been downright silent since the first night. It made Nott feel a tiny bit better that Yasha wasn't really speaking to anyone except Mollymauk, but not by much. Yasha was her cabin-mate for the next two weeks and practically her mentor. Molly had already started sitting next to Caleb and her during breaks and giving him information that Pumat hadn't. Things like that most cabins made a rules poster with the campers and name tags for the campers. Things that Nott felt like Yasha should be telling her. 

At least Jester had been helping Nott. They had both spent Friday afternoon inventorying the arts and crafts room, a double room with cabinets everywhere. Jester seemed to know what she was doing and would routinely make comments about the contents of drawers. It was as if Jester couldn't go a minute without talking. Nott was used to chatter growing up with so many kids running around, and with the silence of her cabin, the noise was more than welcome.

Nott never had many friends growing up. There were kids in her school when she was young that would play with her, but by the time she was in middle school she couldn't keep a friend more than a grade or two. Most of the people she would befriend would end up being boys. Nott couldn't remember the last girl who she had been able to call a friend. Nott wanted a friend who was a girl and she wanted to be Jester's friend.

By the time it was Sunday afternoon they had finished their training. The next morning the campers would arrive and they would fall into the whirlwind of routine. Yasha was out of the cabin going on a hike with Molly and Caleb was helping Clay clean up the tiny library the camp had collected over the years. Nott's nerves left her feeling finicky, so she made her way over to the the neighboring cabin.

Nott knocked on the screen door and peeked tentatively inside. The cabin was identical to Yasha and Nott's except that one bunk was occupied by Jester. In the few days that they had been here, Jester had already hung multiple collages on the walls her bunk rested against. There were photos printed of counselors and Jester surrounded by kids. There were also drawings plastered everywhere, all a little to simple to be from Jester's hand.

"Nott! Hey, what's up?" Jester said happily, looking up from whatever had held her attention in her lap. She was sitting cross legged on the bed with one of her skirts flared around her in a perfect, albeit wrinkled, circle.

"Hello Jester," Nott said. She carefully shut the screen door behind her, they had a tendency to slam if you weren't careful and Nott hated the loud snap, even if she was ready for it.

"What are you working on?" Nott asked walking closer. When she came up to the bunk it became clear what was in Jester's lap. It was one of the fanny packs they used to hold epipens and other emergency medication. Whenever a camper with an epipen left the upper part of the hill they had to wear one of the fanny packs.

Jester had surrounded herself with the packs as well as a bag of tangled embroidery floss and a few needles from a pack or varying colors. In Jester's hand was a needle threaded with a full six string of floss.

"I'm trying to make the fanny packs cuter so the campers will like wearing them more. Trying being the most important word," Jester laughed, but Nott could tell that she was frustrated. Jester's brow was furrowed and her eyes shiny.

"Have you ever embroidered before?" Nott asked. She tried to keep her voice soft, but her voice felt awkward on her tongue.

“I've watched some YouTube tutorials,” Jester shrugged.

“Well, um, that's pretty much how I learned,” Nott offered, sitting down, “It'll look nicer if you separate the floss into two or three strings instead of using all six.”

Jester's eyes lit up, “You can do hand embroidery?!”

“Yeah, not super well, but I learned a bit. I'm better at hand sewing and mending clothes, but embroidery was fun,” Nott said. She took the pack out of Jester's hand and began to split the pink floss in half.

“It's easier to do it if you have an embroidery hoop, probably would need a really small one, but we can do something really simple without it,” Nott explained. She pushed her hair back behind her ears to keep it out of her eyes.

“I was thinking flowers or hearts for this one. Hearts make everyone happy. I could braid it if you want,” Jester said. Her words were going too fast, her energy returned tenfold.

“Braid... the thread?” Nott asked.

Jester laughed, “No, your hair, silly goose. It's getting in your way and I'm really good at braiding. It's a trade for helping me with the epipacks!”

Nott struggled to find the words she wanted to say, only to find she wasn't sure what she wanted to say. It wasn't that she didn't let people touch her hair, it was just that they didn't. Her relationship with Caleb was not physical whatsoever. Caleb was the one who had aversions to touch and she had seen him wince when someone touched his shoulder or patted his back. They didn't talk about it and Nott had just made sure she wouldn't even accidentally bump into him. But, Jester offering to do her hair was something that Nott hadn't even considered at a distant possibility.

Finally Nott settled with only saying, “This isn't a trade. You don't have to pay me back for helping you.”

“Ok, then, may I braid your hair? I like braiding and I want to do something nice for you and you have such pretty and long hair,” Jester said.

Nott scoffed, “My hair isn't pretty, it's just hair”

“But it's so long and it looks very soft and it is very pretty,” Jester insisted.

"I... um," Nott faltered, too flustered to find the right words for this situation, if there even were words that fit. Sometimes Caleb would say nice things to her, complimenting her resourcefulness or skills, but never how she looked. Nott knew she wasn't pretty, not on the way she was supposed to be. Not in the way girls were supposed to be. And, she was ok with that, she always had to be.

Nott's colorless eyes were too big and her mouth stretched too wide when she smiled. She was thin in the ways that people scrunched their nose up at. She looked too young and too old all at the same time. She had scars from cuts and scratches that she had never let properly heal, all faint enough up her arms to give her skin an almost patchy look in the wrong light. She was knees and elbows and a face made for anger.

"Ok," Nott finally said, shrugging. She just ignored the insistence's on the quality of her hair.

The two of them fell into a silence that was never completely silent. Jester would fill the empty room with soft explanations of what she was doing or to hum a song that Nott couldn't recognize. Nott continued to embroider simple flowers onto the pack, sticking with outlines to save time and Jester slowly braided Nott's long dark hair. Nott had cut her own hair for years now and the unevenness left parts of her hair to hang in her face without pins or a headband to push them back.

"Yasha doesn't talk much does she?" Nott finally said, trying to sound casual.

"Nope," Jester shook her head, and Nott couldn't feel it, but she could feel the bed move behind her, "sometimes she can get quiet."

"Well, um, she hasn't talked to me yet, at all," Nott said. She didn't want to push her problems onto someone else and this felt enough like snitching to make her stomach twist in on itself.

"Oh, that's not fair to you!" Jester exclaimed, and Nott was inclined to believe her concern genuine.

"It's ok. I'm just kind of nervous about tomorrow," Nott explained.

"Of course" Jester agreed.

Nott was quieter, "and I don't know if I've made her upset some how."

"I'm sure you didn't!" Jester shook her head more firmly this time, "Yasha is just... going through some things. She's probably mad at Beau if she is mad at anyone."

"The two of them did seem to be fighting on the first night," Nott said. Nott hadn't seen the two girls together after that night at the campfire.

"You can't tell anyone ok? Whisper circle rules," Jester suddenly said.

"Tell anyone what? And what's whisper circle?" Nott questioned.

"Whisper circle is a camp thing. It's really cool and you ask questions in the circle. But basically whisper circle rules means anything said is top secret. You can only talk about it with the people from the circle. It's totally binding," Jester said. There was an excitement that seemed to seem into her voice whenever she explained something. Like she hadn't been shut down yet, like she hadn't learned to hide herself away yet.

"I won't tell anyone," Nott said, even if she didn't wholly understand this whole circle thing. 

“Well, I don't know everything ok?”Jester became with a breath, “But, I do know some things. Yasha has been a counselor for almost as long as Fjord and I, so this is her third summer. The first summer she was here she made friends with Molly and some of the counselors who aren't here anymore. She was shy and kind of aloof but kids just love her and she is super patient with them. It doesn't hurt that she is very pretty. Everyone likes her.”

“Everyone?” Nott questioned. She wouldn't deny that Yasha was clearly a member of the lake water club.

“Yes, everyone. Anyway, last year was Beau's first year and she seemed to like Yasha too. She was always flirting with her whenever we had free time after the kids went to bed or whenever there were free weekends. I don't think Yasha was used to that kind of attention but I think she liked Beau too. But something happened the last week of camp. I think they had a fight or something. I really really thought they would get together and it would be very sweet and romantic.”

“But now they are fighting,”Nott said softly.

“Yeah, and there isn't anything I can do. I tried to talk to Beau about it, but she just shut down like she usually does,” Jester said.

Nott turned to face her and found that she was much closer than she intended to be, “Um,” she shook her head to focus, “I think it's hard to watch people you care about be upset or hurt when there isn't anything more you can do to help them. Sometimes even if you know how to fix their problem you don't always get to decide how they act,” Nott shrugged and looked away, “and you're nice and caring and I'm sure that you've done everything you can and they will work this out themselves.”

Nott ran he hand down the braid draped over her shoulder. It felt complicated, like more than one plait braided together. It made her feel pretty and she had yet to even look in a mirror. When Jester didn't respond, Nott bit her lip and glanced up to see Jester's reaction and was surprised to find her close to tears.

“Oh, no! I'm sorry!” Nott exclaimed.

“Can we be friends? I'd very much like to be friends,” Jester said, wiping her eyes and smiling.

Nott almost choked on her response. 

“Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took so long to finish this chapter. It also ended up being shorter only because the scenes were getting too long and I had to cut it up somewhat.
> 
> A lot has been going on on the personal side of things. I moved! But I hope things will settle down a bit now and I can write some. I have been making a playlist for Nott specifically (Called Nott the Playlist) and It gives me so many feels. There's definitely going to be some angsty parts of this story!
> 
> As always you can find me at cmacmac.tumblr.com I'm always up for a chat!


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